The Legacy
by DisPrincess
Summary: Modern Day AU retelling of the series: Elena Castillo has arrived as a Freshman at the University of Avalor after spending much of her life in isolation. We discover that Elena's past is closely linked to the university. A story involving self discovery, friendships, drama, adventure, and mystery. Some chapters will follow story line others will be fun one shots.
1. Chapter 1 Amulet Hall

Elena Castillo tried to peer out the dirt covered window of her dorm room at the University of Avalor. As an incoming freshman, she had just moved into Amulet Hall. Amulet Hall was clean enough on the inside but because of it's secluded location, surrounded by trees, the outside often remained a bit dingy. It was the oldest building on campus, some even referred to it as ancient.

Elena sighed as she could barely make out the campus common in the distance, surrounded by the rest of residence halls. It was so far from where she was. She slumped down on her bed and looked around her newly inhabited room, which unfortunately did not include a room mate. She turned her lips into a crooked frown as she skimmed the walls that needed repair, thought about the creaking floors, and bounced on her quite uncomfortable mattress.

The worst part of her assigned dormitory though was the loneliness. Elena had hoped for a new beginning when she arrived at college. Not that she wanted to completely leave her former life behind her, she loved her family dearly, especially her little sister Isabel. She had a dark past however and very little freedom. When she was a young teenager, her parents had mysteriously vanished. It was later determined that they were murdered. It was a high profile case, there was a lot of controversy and politics involved. Though there had been a couple of suspects, no one had ever been convicted. It remained a mystery. As a result of the tragedy, Elena and her sister had been raised by their maternal Grandparents. In fear that their grandchildren's lives were also in danger, Francisco and Luisa Flores kept the girls close at all times. The girls were home schooled and rarely had any social interaction outside of their family and close family friends. Elena had always longed for more. At the moment, her college life wasn't looking much better than her home life.

Elena picked up her blue stuffed fox that she had insisted on bringing with her. She had gotten it as a child, slept with it beside her every night of her life and certainly couldn't bare to leave it behind when she left home. She hugged him tight. She then looked it straight in the eyes as if it were a true friend and said, "Enough is enough! I'm not going to just sit here and pout! If you want change in life, you need to take a stand! Right?! RIGHT!"

She then stood up with determination and walked over to her closet. She opened the doors, one nearly hanging off the hinges, and took out her favorite off the shoulder, red, ruffled, chiffon blouse. She paired it with a pair of white denim shorts, laced up her favorite high top sneakers and pulled her waist length, dark brown hair back into a ponytail. She took a look in the mirror. She was a naturally beautiful girl, just as her mother had been. What truly made her stand out though was the way that she carried herself. She stood tall and confident and though she was a tad on the skinny side, she always appeared to be strong. And she was. It was the way she had always been. Despite the adversities in her life, she had always tried to remain positive. She wanted to change the world, to make it a better place. Because of her seclusion growing up, she was often a bit naive as to how the world worked but her heart was always in the right place, she wore it on her sleeve and fully committed it to everything that she did. Overall, she was a happy, friendly and outgoing girl. She feared very little and believed that with hard work, anything was possible. She placed her hands on her tiny waist, resting them on her perfectly curved hips and nodded at her reflection. She was ready!

* * *

"Absolutely NOT!" Esteban Flores stated with force. Not only was he Elena's older cousin but he was also President of the University. "You will _not_ receive special treatment so long as I am in charge of this University.

" _Please_ Esteban!" Elena begged, "You _know_ how difficult things have been for me. I _need_ this! I can't live in seclusion any longer and living out there in Amulet Hall makes me feel like I'm still trapped! And most of the students there, actually _enjoy_ that separation. But I _don't!_ They don't _want_ to be bothered. But I _need_ to be closer to the other students!"

"First of all" Esteban started calmly, his nose slightly turned up in the air, "While you are here, you will address me as _Chancellor_ Flores, just as any other student would do. And like I said, I can not just give you special treatment. If you want to fit in with the other students, might I suggest not flaunting who you are or who your family is! Besides, you will have plenty of opportunities to meet the other students once classes start up in a few days. Attend the activity fairs, find a club, a sorority, _something!_ You will be fine Miss Castillo"

Elena rolled her eyes at the way her cousin addressed her and how he expected to be addressed. He just didn't understand. Even walking through campus on her way to the administrative offices, she saw that social circles were already forming and she couldn't help but feel left out. She needed to be close to the rest of the residence halls and she desperately desired to have a roommate. Someone she could form a life long sisterly bond with. Esteban seemed determined though, to make Elena's transition more difficult.

He too had been raised by their Grandparents. He was older though and often found himself shaded by the wealthy Castillo family. Elena always sensed a bit of resentment because of it. Esteban had shadowed his Uncle Raul's career for many years and was determined to one day follow in his foot steps. Raul however, had always hoped that one of his daughters would continue on with his legacy. Raul Castillo was, of course, Elena's father. At the time of the Castillos murder, _Raul_ had been President of the University, as his father had before him. Elena's mother Lucia, was a prominent alumni of the University and served on the Board of Trustees. The Castillos were legendary. It was highly suspected that the Castillo's murder had to do with University politics. The prime suspect in the case had always been Isadora Shuriki. She was the Vice President of the University and often had heated disagreements with Raul. She wanted his job and wanted him out of the way. She had been questioned over and over again on the case but there had never been anything linking her to the murders. Not a thing. Thus, she took over as president, with Esteban suspiciously being awarded the position of Vice President. The pressures of being president and under constant investigation eventually drove her into madness and when faculty and alumni had deemed her unfit for the position, she was forced by the University to step down as an administrator. Esteban, wanting the position of power himself, lead the revolt.

Elena stood up feeling defeated. She should have known better than to think that Esteban would help her. She scowled at him momentarily but didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had gotten her down. So she held her head high and feigned a satisfied smile.

"Thank you _Chancellor!_ Flores!" She stated, over dramatically emphasizing his title "You have taught me a very important lesson today. I am on my own now and learning to be independent. I can no longer rely on my family to bail me out. I will simply find another way!"

With that, Elena turned and walked out of the president's office, wheels already turning in her head as to how she was possibly going to free herself from a life of further seclusion.


	2. Chapter 2 A New Friend

The moment that Elena shut the door to Esteban's office she slumped her shoulders and crossed her arms. She let out an audible " _hmmpf"_ that got the attention of a boy sitting on a bench nearby. Elena met his eyes and they each flashed an awkward smile. He was young, most likely a freshman, and thin. Very thin actually. His bony shoulders barely filled his red tshirt and the sleeves hung slightly over his elbows. He had it sloppily tucked into pair of yellow skinny jeans and on his feet he wore a worn out pair of tennis shoes. His dark hair was grown out and a bit sloppy but in a way that sort of worked with his gawky teenage demeanor. His eyes were what drew Elena to him. They were a cool shade of green and the sincerity in their movements spoke volumes about his character. Elena had a good feeling about him. He seemed... _pure_. She walked straight towards him and simply said "Hey!"

The boy looked around, seemingly confused as to if this beautiful and confident girl was actually talking to him. Since there was no one else in their vicinity, he could only conclude that she was indeed approaching _him._

"Ummm... hi?" He responded with hesitation, now thinking that maybe she was mistaking him for somebody else.

"I'm Elena!" The girl said in a friendly manner as she took a seat next to him and extended her hand.

"Uhh... Mateo.. is.. my name. De Alva. Mateo De Alva" He responded, loosely taking Elena's hand only to find his fingers enveloped by a two handed grasp, the girl grinning from ear to ear. Mateo had never met anyone so eager to make his acquaintance before. But hey, he was in college now and was bound to meet all sorts of new people. He smiled warmly at her letting her know that he appreciated that she was taking the time to talk with him.

"Nice to meet you Mateo De Alva!" She said quite genuinely, still sporting a perky smile. Her energy danced about even as she sat completely still by his side. "SO!" She began suddenly after a short pause, momentarily surprising Mateo. "Are you waiting to meet with Chancellor Flores?"

"Oh! No... actually. I um.. heard he wasn't an easy man to speak with. Did you just speak with him? Was he as scary as people say?" Mateo responded, still stuttering a bit.

"Eh!" Elena said casually, shrugging and waving her hand as if brushing off the rumors. To her, Esteban was Esteban. Despite his prickly attitude, he wasn't the least bit scary to her.

Mateo again wasn't sure about how to respond to Elena. He just stared at her curiously but also, a bit humored by her upbeat and friendly personality, even if it did seem a bit quirky.

"I'm actually waiting to talk to the Dean of Student Affairs" Mateo offered, relaxing a bit and wanting to continue the conversation.

"Dean of student affairs?" Elena asked, thinking that _he_ was exactly the man who could help her with her own problem.

"Yeah" Mateo confirmed. "He's actually a good friend of my grandfather... well _was_ before.. well before my grandfather passed away last year. I just got settled in my dorm room over at Olde Village Hall so thought I'd stop by and let him know how everything went"

"Aww... that's sweet!" Elena said "Were you and your grandfather close? My grandparents nearly raised me, so we're _really_ close!" She shared.

"Well actually before he became ill, it had been awhile since I had seen him... I'm not sure if you know much about the Castillo murders but when they happened, it all hit him really hard as he was very loyal to them!"

"Wait a minute!" Elena interrupted. "Was your grandfather Dean Cazar?"

"Yeah" Mateo confirmed, "Dean Al Cazar. Do you know him?"

Elena forced a smile towards Mateo as she suddenly felt the pangs of sadness that always shot through her at the mention of her parent's murder. She gently nodded that she indeed did know him then sighed heavily before she revealed the truth about who she was. "The Castillos... they were my parents. I know how much your grandfather fought for their justice after everything that happened"

"Oh" Was all that Mateo could muster up as he looked sympathetically at Elena, suddenly feeling that they were instantly bonded through their families.

"Yeah... well... it was a long time ago" Elena shrugged, wanting to steer clear of anything too deep. After all, she'd only known Mateo for a total of two minutes! "So anyways!" She perked up, "Why is it again that you hadn't seen him in awhile?"

"Oh! yes! Well... so since he became so involved in the case, he was heavily pushing for an arrest for President Shuriki as he truly believed, and did until his dying day actually, that she was involved. Well as you can imagine that led to a lot of conflict here at the university and well... my mother was worried that whoever was involved in the Castillo murders would also go after my grandfather... so... long story short, she wanted me far away from everything that was going on. My mother and grandfather argued about it a lot and over time, we sort of became estranged. I'd always wanted to reconcile with him but... well you know... But it was his dream for me to attend University here so... here I am! The Dean of Student Affairs was a close friend and had promised my Grandfather he'd look after me while I'm here!"

"Wow! That's quite a story!" Elena exclaimed.

"Yeah. I guess it is" Mateo shrugged. "Not as tragic... or anything ... as yours is but... anyways, I'm sure if you need anything at all while you're here, Dean Cacahuate would be more than happy to help out in any way that he could! He also knew your parents and was just as loyal as my Grandfather was."

"Aww... that's so sweet!"Elena said, tilting her head to one side. She was inspired by such generosity. Then a thought occurred to her and she lit up. This was her chance to get a new room assignment. She was sure that it wouldn't be too much to ask and so she did. She told Mateo about her situation and then as patiently as she could (Not one of her strong suits), waited for him to come out of his meeting with the Dean.

When Mateo finally emerged from the office of Dean Cacahuate, he looked at Elena, smiled and victoriously threw his hands up in the air. "You're all set! He's going to arrange for you get a room over in Castle Hall. Right next to the common and at the center of all things social on campus! Congratulations!"

Elena literally jumped off the bench, clasping her hands in front of her and squealing with joy. "EEEE! Mateo! You did it! You literally _saved_ me from that awful Amulet Hall and a freshman year filled with nothing but loneliness!"

Mateo shyly slipped his hands in his pockets, shrugged and nodded with great modesty. "yeah. Well... it was nothing" He told his new friend.


End file.
